Jersey City residents and Pathmark workers react to deadly Old Bridge shootings

Local residents and Pathmark employees reacted today to the deadly shootings early this morning at an Old Bridge Pathmark.

Terence Tyler, 23, a former Marine, has been identified by authorities as the shooter, who opened fire inside the Pathmark today, killing two workers before turning a gun on himself.

“Everyone is going postal in this economy,” said Paula Crawford, a resident of Society Hill in Jersey City. “I’m afraid for the kids.”

Dan McMahon, who shops at the Pathmark on Stadium Plaza off of Route 440, said the fatal shootings in Old Bridge don’t frighten him.

“It’s so far away,” McMahon said. “Crazy things happen every day.”

The victims of today’s shooting were an 18-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man, both Old Bridge residents. A man who works at a nearby Staples said the shooter, a Pathmark employee, smashed into the front of the store and opened fire.

John Thomassetti, the frozen food manager of the Pathmark on Grand Street in Jersey City, said he expects an incident like this to happen here, rather than in Old Bridge. The windows of the Grand Street Pathmark have been shot out before in a drive-by shooting, Thomassetti noted.

“It’s crazy out there,” he said. “When you go to work, you have to be afraid now?”

A Pathmark employee on a smoke break was surprised to hear about the location of today’s shootings.